Interviews

Our Daily Rider series will feature Philadelphia cyclists in their natural habitat doing what they love. Whether riding across town to work or out of town to the hills, our photographers will be out capturing Philadelphia’s Daily Riders. Ryan Bolli, Port Richmond Folks have been talking about Shepard Fairey installing his Lotus Diamond mural last week in Fishtown at 1228 Frankford Avenue as ...

Our Daily Rider series will feature Philadelphia cyclists in their natural habitat doing what they love. Whether riding across town to work or out of town to the hills, our photographers will be out capturing Philadelphia’s Daily Riders. Ian Downey, Fishtown Where are you going? Right now I’m headed out to Wissahickon Park to ride Forbidden drive and some single track. Tell us about yo...

Many factors contribute to feeling more comfortable on your bike. The fit of the bike is one of the most important. When I went to Max Hamalainen of Philadelphia Bikesmith for a professional bike fit, I found out that it was more about me, my type of riding, and how I carry myself on and off the bike than it was about measurements and angles. Still, those measurements and angles are key, and most ...

Back in the 90s, I was a bike courier in DC. The internet and the economy have conspired to make it a lot harder to earn a living as a messenger since then. To see how things have changed, I spent a day with Julian Root, a Philly courier I had met in 2010 while we both worked at the Bicycle Coalition. The day I rode with Julian topped out in the mid 20s, with just a little bit of wind and residua...

Many people have their favorite barber, or the only dentist they implicitly trust; while some folks have the bartender that makes their drink just right or the tailor they bring all their clothes to. Cyclists honor those artists and craftsmen as much as everyone else, but most of us have a pedestal that is only reserved for our most trusted artist and technician the bicycle mechanic. For many year...

Michelle Lee coming over the barriers at West Chester Cross in October. Photo by Bill White. Participation and interest in Cyclocross racing has grown dramatically in this country in recent years. With Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships (SSCXWC) coming to Philadelphia in December, we thought it was time to find out a bit more about the cyclocross community in the region. Michelle Lee, loca...

We talked with Bina Bilenky, the Event Director for the Philly Bike Expo. With a dad who is a framebuilder, she’s been surrounded by bicycles her entire life. After receiving her Bachelors degree in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A-M University in 2010, she’s been working on the Expo ever since. She says, It is definitely a labor of love and we are excited to see it gr...

I took a ride, then had a chat over a cup of coffee with Aaron Ritz, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs Planner for the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities. Aaron suggested we ride into Fairmount Park, then up to the Smith Memorial Arch and Memorial Hall, site of his victories in the 2010 and 2011 Brompton (folding bicycle) US Championships. Bike guy finds his niche I’m a b...

Dave Pryor gets paid, SSCX-style. At least 300 racers and up to 500 spectators, are expected to descend on Fairmount Park / Belmont Plateau for the 2013 Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships on December 6-8 in Philadelphia, PA. We talked with Dave Pryor, race promoter, about what’s shaping up to be a pretty rad event. For the layman, a bit of history please, what is the Singlespeed Cycl...

My husband and I met in 2008 at a bush bar in West Africa. Justin and I chatted over Jack and Cokes (since the beer list consisted of Heineken and something called Bear Beer), and the rest is history. If you are wondering, I did try Bear Beer several times and each time resulted in a crazy story and a stomach ache. We returned to Africa (this time, Tanzania) for our honeymoon in 2011 and as soon a...